1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an answering machine and, more particularly, to an answering machine which has a dialing time shortening function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Home telephones have recently been provided with an increasing number of functions. Among others, telephones having an answering function and a dialing time shortening function have become widespread. As is well known, according to the answering function, when there is a telephone call in the absence of the subscriber, it is possible to answer the caller by reproducing the answering message recorded in advance and to record the message from the caller. The dialing time shortening function enables frequently used telephone numbers to be stored in the form of abbreviated dialing codes each of which consists of about two numerals so that the subscriber can make a telephone call by simply designating the abbreviated dialing code.
FIG. 5 shows the main part of a conventional answering machine provided with a dialing time shortening function. This answering machine is provided with a communication circuit 11 which controls the communication with a telephone line 12. A dialing circuit 13 and a voice synthesizer 14 are connected to the communication circuit 11. An abbreviated dialing code memory 15 for storing an abbreviated dialing code in correspondence with a telephone number is connected to the dialing circuit 13. A message memory 16 for storing the answering message and a message from a caller is connected to the voice synthesizer. The dialing circuit 13, the voice synthesizer 14, the abbreviated dialing code memory 15 and the message memory 16 are operated under the control of a control circuit 17.
The operation of the conventional answering machine having the above-described structure will be explained. When there is a phone call to the answering machine in the answering mode, under the control of the control circuit 17, the message memory 16 outputs predetermined answering message data, and the voice synthesizer converts the answering message data into a speech message 18. The speech message 18 is supplied to the telephone line 12 through the communication circuit 11.
A telephone call from this machine is made in the following manner. In dialing the whole telephone number, each digit of the telephone number input by a number key (not shown) is output from the dialing circuit 13 as a DP (dial pulse) signal 19 or a DTMF (dual tone multifrequency) signal 20, and supplied to the telephone line 12 through the communication circuit 11. In contrast, in the case of using an abbreviated dialing code, an abbreviated dialing code data 21 which is input by a code key (not shown) is input to the abbreviated dialing code memory 15 from the control circuit 17, and the dial data 22 which corresponds to the abbreviated dialing code is input to the dialing circuit 13. The dialing circuit 13 supplies the dial data 22 as a DP signal or a DTMF signal to the telephone line 12 through the communication circuit 11.
The telephone numbers which are registered in the form of abbreviated dialing codes are telephone numbers which are comparatively frequently used. However, once they are registered, the owner of the answering machine often forgets these numbers. As a result, when the owner wants to dial one of the registered numbers from another place, it is often the case that the owner remembers not the telephone number but only the abbreviated dialing code thereof. In such a case, the owner needs to consult a memo such as an address book. However, if it is possible to refer to a list on which the registered telephone numbers are entered in correspondence with the abbreviated dialing codes, it is not necessary to carry an address book or the like.
In a conventional answering machine, since the data stored in the abbreviated dialing code memory 15 are only supplied to the dialing circuit 13 in accordance with the command from the control circuit 17 and transmitted from the dialing circuit 13 to the telephone line 12 as a DP signal or a DTMF signal, it is impossible to use these data from an external telephone.
As a countermeasure, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-55946, for example, discloses telephones which allow the registered dialing information to be referred to from an external telephone through the telephone line. Among these, in a telephone of a first system, the user of an external telephone must actively designate the abbreviated dialing code in order to know the corresponding telephone number. It is therefore impossible to know the desired telephone number when the user also forgets the abbreviated dialing code. In a telephone of a second system, the user of an external telephone must directly designate the name of the subscriber of the desired telephone number in order to know the telephone number. It is therefore necessary to provide a complicated and expensive circuit such as a speech recognizing circuit in the answering machine, so that the answering machine itself becomes inconveniently large and complicated.